Earthsky FAQs
Will Earth pass through the galactic plane in 2012?
There's been much hoopla about the winter solstice sun aligning with the galactic plane on December 21, 2012.
11-20-2009 - Space
According to the computational wizard Jean Meeus (page 301-303 of Mathematical Astronomy Morsels), the solstice points were in alignment with the galactic equator as recently as the year 1998.
In other words, the 2012 alignment isn’t unique. Consider the view from our local star, the sun. As seen from the sun, Earth crosses the Milky Way’s galactic plane (also called the galactic equator) twice a year, every year.
Or consider the view from Earth. As seen from Earth, the sun crosses the galactic plane – also called the galactic equator on our sky – twice a year, every year. All of this is just part of Earth’s normal motion, as projected on our sky’s dome, as we travel around the sun. Quite by coincidence, the ecliptic – the projection of the Earth’s orbital plane onto the stellar sphere – intersects the galactic plane near the solstice points. That’s why these points are so near each other on our sky’s dome.
However, it’s true that the sun on the December solstice doesn’t return to the same exact spot in front of the backdrop stars every year. The solstice point slowly but surely moves westward through the stars at about one degree per every 72 years. (For reference, the sun’s diameter equals about 1/2 degree.)
Therefore, the solstice point moves about 30 degrees westward every 2,160 years. By the year 2269, the December solstice point will cross into the constellation Ophiuchus. Then the solstices won’t happen so near the location of the galactic plane in our sky.
Take a look at our sky chart. If you could see the stars during the daytime, you’d see the sun in front of the constellation Sagittarius on each December 21 solstice. We show Sagittarius as a Teapot on this sky chart, because many people are able to see that pattern. On or near each December solstice, the sun crosses the plane of the Milky Way galaxy above the spout of the Teapot, a bit north of the galactic center. Can you see that intersection? Also look for the various M-objects along the galactic equator, as shown on our chart. Those are star clusters in the star-crowded plane of the galaxy.
I think this “2012″ hypothesis is another example of the human brain trying to make order out of chaos- we can’t help but look for some kind of pattern in all the “noise” of the cosmos-
I think either we will end our existence by our own stupidity/ignorance, or an outside force will decide our fate for us. If it happens to be on Dec. 21, 2012, it would be the ultimate coincidence, or “art” imitating life….
This article talks about the apparent view of the solstice points from the earth or from the sun etc. This is not relevant to what is being said about the 2012 period. What i have been told is that the cycle being described by the Mayan long-count relates to the Solar system as an object relative to the disk of the galaxy. The idea is that our solar system is moving in orbit around the galactic center in such a way that it wobbles up and down through the plane of the galactic disk every (whatever) number of years.
The apparent view from this or that location is not a relevent aspect of the discussion.
Hi Steve.
Yes, I concur with you. As the sun orbits the galactic center in an estimated 230 million years, the sun (and solar sytem) bob up then down through the galactic plane in periods of roughly 35 million years. From the accounts that I have read, the solar system now lies several dozen light-years north of the galactic plane. (To see scientific abstracts that give various estimates for the sun’s distance from the galactic plane, do a Google search, typing in: sun, distance from galactic plane.) It’s my understanding that the sun is moving away from the galactic plane at some 7 kilometers per second, and won’t start its descent toward the plane of our Milky Way galaxy for millions of years to come.
Bruce
Stupid. there will be no end you crazy fools it is just a end to a calender LOL
oh, and we MIGHT go extinct in 50 billion years. 2012 is not 50billion years from now.
NOYB,
Yes, it seems that some people think the end of the Mayan Baktun cycle on the winter solstice, 2012, spells out doomsday for our planet. I’m not so sure this is what the Mayan had in mind. The end point of the Baktun cycle is akin to the odometer of a car turning over and displaying a line of zeros. However, the sun is expected to swell into a red giant in about 5 billion years, and that will probably mean real doomsday for the planet.
As a reminder, EarthSky encourages civil dialogue, and does not tolerate name-calling. We all have something to gain from respectful conversation.
Bruce
I don’t know about you, but I was told that when my car’s odometer flips over and reaches zero, it’ll explode.
what happened to the Neanderthals to the dinosaur and the deserts once where green belts…. what happens up in the sky………where it ends……..how many stars……..what is a cell man made of …..how the cell grow ……what is energy…..No answer…… believe in our ignorance….before we claim our credibilities…….!!!!
Are their gravitational forces responsible for our solar system bobbing ‘up then down through the galactic plane in periods of roughly 35 million years’ ? Can dark matter encourage or reduce this bobbing effect?
Bruce,
I don’t really know what forces are at work to make our solar system pass through the galactic plane every 35 or so million years. Try submitting your question to an astronomer at Cornell University at http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/.
Goood luck!
Bruce
I am looking for an interactive model of our solar and galactic system in 3D. One that can be looked at from all angles with time shifts and movement that correlates to times and dates. I want to see not just the distances and positions of planets in regards to the sun and each other on a flat plane but all the planes and intersections. I need something with depth. I hope I explained this right. Can’t seem to find one online on my own.
Silverthaw,
For starters, try your luck with the ‘Where is M13′ software at http://www.thinkastronomy.com/M13/index.html. For some perspective on the size of our Milky Way galaxy, consider this: if we shrunk the solar system out to the orbit of Pluto to the size of a quarter, the Milky Way would be the size of North America.
Bruce
Some one in the bog said that (according to some astronomers) the solar system and sun is now several dozen light years away from the galactic plane and still moving away from it. Others have claimed some astronomers have said that the sun and solar system began passing thru the galactic plane in 1998, peaked in about 2007 and will be done passing thru it by 2016. Can you comment on this? Do you know where this second account may be coming from and what it might be referring to?
Jennifer,
All scientific abstracts with which I am familiar claim the solar system is north of the galactic plane. Furthermore, the solar system will continue to travel north of the galactic plane for millions of years to come.
According to the computational wizard, Jean Meeus, the solstice points were in alignment with the galactic equator (plane) in 1998. However, since the sun is a disk and not a point, I suppose you could say that a portion of the December solstice sun will align with the galactic equator (plane) for a period of about 36 years, centered on 1998. That represents the period from about 1980-2016.
When speaking of the December solstice sun aligning with the galactic equator (plane), we’re talking about the position of the sun relative to the background stars, as seen from Earth. That does not mean that we physically pass through the galactic plane each year on the December solstice.
The plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun is inclined by about 60 degrees to the plane of the galactic equator. Go outside sometime with a Hula-Hoop. Stick your head through the middle of this Hula-Hoop and tilt it about 60 degrees to your horizon. Your head represents the sun and the Hula-Hoop represents the Earth’s orbit. The landscape you are standing on all the way to the horizon depicts the galactic plane. Note that the Hula-Hoop appears to cross the horizon at two points. These two points are analogous to the solstice points aligning with the galactic equator (plane). Of course, the Hula-Hoop isn’t physically passing through the horizon at these two points of alignment. Similarly, the Earth isn’t physically passing through the galactic plane on the solstices.
Bruce
I meant to say “blog” but perhaps “bog” can be the new name for all the confusion bogging down the facts surrounding the 2012 “event.” (Astronomers, Mayan calendars, ancient oracles, and prophetic hacks the world over have got the cataclysmic date all wrong: it is 2010, the year Oprah Winfrey is ending her show.) For those of you with SGDS [sarcastic gene deficiency syndrome]: JUST KIDDING!
I meant 2011. (If only others were as good as me at constantly reporting their own inaccuracies what a world it would be.)
SGDS people: just ignore the comment.
I’m a skeptical mystic, here are few important points:
The moment of sunrise was very important to ‘the ancients’ very real mystical reasons.
On 12/21/2012 @ 11:11AM GMT the Sun will cross the winter solstice point precisely *at sunrise* as viewed from Mesoamerica.
Astronomers say the Winter Solstice point crossed the galactic equator in 1998 but they admit that there is a slight margin of error on the galactic scale. It is possible that the Mayans knew the rising Sun will align with Winter Solstice *and* the Galactic Equator on 12/21/2012.
There is indeed *one* ancient specific reference to the date 12.21.2012, it is on a stone in Mesoamerica, Tortuguero Monument 6.
The Mayan Tzolk’in calendar does not end in 2012, it is only the beginning of the next cycle but one stone does in fact say ’something’ will happen.
Unfortunately, the word on the monument that describes exactly what will happen is effaced.
From David Stuart’s recent decipherment of Tortuguero Monument 6 for the UT Mesoamerican Google group:
As promised here’s a quick translation of the final passage* of
Tortuguero Monument 6, recording the 2012 Bak’tun ending:
Tzuhtz-(a)j-oom u(y)-uxlajuun pik
(ta) Chan Ajaw ux(-te’) Uniiw.
Uht-oom ?
Y-em(al)?? Bolon Yookte’ K’uh ta ?.
“The Thirteenth ‘Bak’tun” will be finished
(on) Four Ajaw, the Third of Uniiw (K’ank’in). (12.21.2012)
? will occur. (indecipherable)
(It will be) the descent(??) of the Nine Support? God(s) to the ?.”
All new-age woo-woo aside there is an authentic, albeit vague, prophecy.
Hi Mr. Middle,
The Mayan prophecy – if, indeed, there is one – might be vague. But there’s nothing vague about the statement that “On 12/21/2012 @ 11:11AM GMT the Sun will cross the winter solstice point precisely at sunrise as viewed from Mesoamerica.” Are you suggesting that the Mayans predicted the time of the northern hemisphere’s 2012 winter solstice to the minute? Looking up “Mesoamerica” in the Random House Websters’s Unabridged Dictionary (second edition), I find this as the first definition: the area extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua in which diverse pre-Columbian civilizations flourished. As far as I can tell, the sun will still be below the horizon in Mesoamerica at precisely 11:11AM Universal Time on 12/21/2012.
Bruce
The Maya never came up with a wheel, but we think they can predict the end of the world…….
So if theres all this evidence that the world will not end in 2012, which upon i believe in, why do people put videos on Youtube.com saying we will die with catastrophic events e.g. Weather, Planet-X, Oracles and etc.. Where they getting there evidence from? and is it true? because i’m on the border line sort of about this whole hypothesis.
James
BassHero,
Although I take it for granted that 1+1=2, the mathematicians Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell came up with an elaborate proof of the fact in their book Principia Mathematica. In like vein, I’m taking it for granted that our planet Earth will be around not only tomorrow, but on and after December 21, 2012, because I haven’t yet seen what I consider to be any credible evidence to the contrary.
Bruce
thanks for that , needed some clarification on a theory ta.
This is from an article on http://www.angelicscorn.co.uk/
When it comes to space, our knowledge is very limited and we are only discovering things today that the ancients already knew thousands of years ago. The reason why we know so little is because modern humans only started to explore space recently and space is very very big.
When it comes to 2012 and space, the range of opinions, ideas and theories become even more various. The underling reason for this is because our knowledge about space it self is very limited. When one look at the 2012 theories there are 6 main view points that is generally theorized about, namely planet X, the galactic plane, meteor strikes, extinction, sun flares and Alien visitors.
Planet X
One of the 2012 theories is that an unknown planet will crash into earth in 2012. In today’s modern world we have multi billion dollar telescopes in space, million dollar ground base telescopes on earth and millions of private telescopes looking at the night sky and non of them has seen planet X.
Meteor strike
There are millions of meteors, asteroids and comets in space and some day one of them will strike earth, in fact thousands of little meteors and asteroids strikes earth everyday. There is however no big asteroid, meteor or comet on its way to earth at this point in time. The reason why we can say this is because there are millions of eyes looking up in to space everyday and no one has see one on it way to earth. A big meteor, asteroid or comet impact could wipe thousands of species out on earth but that will not happen in 2012 but it will happen someday in the future.
Alien Visitors
This is a very popular theory, but we have no conclusive prove to support this theory, but it is definitely a theory that needs a good look at. Most of the religions on earth believe in the return or the coming of a supreme being from the heavens. Many of the ancient cultures had knowledge we are only discovering today. There is a tribe in Africa whom worships a planet which circles the star Vega. They say a visitor from that planet visited them and taught them, they even have a festival based on this planet new year. To make things worse that planet does exist and their festival is based exactly on the planets year.
Sun flare
Mankind has observed solar activity sins 1612 when sun spots where first discovered by modern man. Over this period we have observed that massive solar storm are preceded by quite periods, we have also observed that global cooling that’s place during quite periods. We have also observed that the solar activity runs in 11 year cycles. We have also experienced what large solar storms can do to us on the ground. In 1859 almost all the electronic equipment on earth was destroyed by a massive solar storm, a few years back a smaller solar storm took out Quebec’s power grid. To make things even worse we have also discovered that the earth magnetos sphere, which protects us from solar storms are weakening. The reason for that is that over thousands of years the earth’s magnetic poles switch. Evidence for this has been found in lava flows, ice cores and earth deposits. Just before the magnetos sphere switches around the magnetos sphere weakens. At this moment in time earth’s magnetos sphere has a ‘hole’ in it. This ‘hole’ is located between South Africa and South America and its growing. The term ‘hole’ however is incorrect. This area between South Africa and South America is where the magnetic field is flowing from south to north instead of from north to south like on the rest of the planet. This means that any solar storm today will have more effect on us the in the past.
The sun has been very quite over the last few years which according to our nearly 400years of experience mean that the sun is preparing for a massive solar storm predicted to occur in 2012, the end of the next 11year cycle. There is however a part of the puzzle that does not fit. In the past 400years fewer sun spots meant global cooling, jet all the ice sheets on the planet is melting and infrared scans says that the entire solar system is heating up. Either all our 400year old data is wrong or something else is coming into play this time around.
Extinction
Extinctions have been part of life on this planet since it started to form about 1 billion years ago. This article is not going to discuss extinctions it self but when it happened in relation to a Galactic year. The image below shows the following; ever 250million years there is a massive extinction. Our solar system takes 250million years to complete one Galactic year. Every halve galactic year there is a small extinction and ever quarter galactic year life seems to blossom, excluding for the meteor impact 75 million years ago which killed off the Dinosaurs. There is a small possibility that on the 21st of December 2012 that we will complete our third Galactic year and we will be at the same area in space where the 2 biggest extinction events the planet has ever known, have taken place.
The Galactic Plane
There are four main stream views on the Galactic plane, we will have an over view on all four of these main stream views pointing out their faults and plus points.
The newest view point is that the solar system will not be crossing the galactic plane in 2012 or anytime in the near future. This conclusion was draw after counting the stars divided in to grids, but some of the stars were not counted and only stars of a certain class was counted. That brings up the question: Can we really believe information that has excluded some information in its calculations to be true?
Another view point is illustrated by the image below. According to this view point the earth aligns with the Galactic plane twice a year. This view point however is completely wrong, because our solar system is moving west in other words we are moving up on this illustration and we are not circling the Galaxy on the path as illustrated on that image. Another conclusion that was drawn from this illustration was that the center of the Galaxy always pulls on our solar system at the same strength as we orbit the Galaxy. This is also wrong. The Milky Way does not have one black hole at the center but several which are aligned in a straight line forming a bar. To view a photo of the Milky Way and other galaxies click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lATU1TbKaEM
The image below shows the Milky Way. On this image it is very clear that the points on the central bar is pulling stars in while no stars are entering the center, there for the gravity at the end off the bar is stronger and we will experience a greater gravitational pull on our solar system when passing these points.
Another theory is illustrated by the image below. This theory says that the solar system is wobbling its way around the solar system. This theory states that this wobble takes about 65million years according to some or 88million years according to others. This wobbling is also used to explain why there is an extinction event every 65million years and also answers the question why we are moving west at this point in time. There is however three questions this theory has to answer. Since the stars are spread apart form each other by billions of miles of space and space it self has no gratify how can we be pulled towards an empty section of space? They answered this question by saying that it is the red giant stars that pulls us back. If this is true it means that one of these stars will have a greater effect then the others, and since this has been happening over 4.5 billion years, where is this red giant we are being pulled towards? As jet there is no answer. If this theory is correct, why is it so difficult to determent where the galactic plane is if we could just measure the solar systems acceleration and deceleration to determent our position in respect to Galactic plane? As jet there is no answer.
At the moment until the above theory is proven beyond any doubt the image below are the most accurate illustration of our solar systems path around the Milky Way if we take current proven knowledge in account.
In Conclusion.
According to the ancients and scientists from the 1960’s we will be passing the galactic plane at the 21st of December 2012, and until scientists can use a different method to the reduction method, which discounts some of the information, are found to prove differently we will be passing thou the Galactic plane on the 21st of December 2012.
This on it self however does not prove to be a problem on its own; the problem will occur ones we line up with our galaxy’s central elongated beam.
The fact that the two biggest extinction events took place in our current time period, the escalating seismic activity on the planet, the heating of the solar system during a period where cooling was suppose to take place, should all serve as warning signs. Something is happening.
In the year 2012 it should be just another normal day in the life of humans. Although there have been horrific changes in our earthly climate, earth quakes & natural disasters of an every 20 year cycle. in the 60’s there were major disasters, 80’s same thing & now the millennium. Life will continue to spawn on planet earth. It just may not include us. Until the great bang on earth takes place lets all just live our lives to the fullest and enjoy this wonderful planet we call EARTH!